Vacation 2012: Twin Peaks

This will be a non-chronological account of the highlights of our recent Northwestern road trip.
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We decided that the best possible use of time in the Seattle metro area would be to visit the cafe where they filmed Twin Peaks. (Which is a TV show from the early '90s. And also a weird movie.) 

So after we waited two and a half hours in the line of cars to get out of Canada (long weekend for the Canadians), we got to keep driving!  And then we were coming up on the Seattle area and the traffic was getting pretty bad, so I looked at the atlas and found a back road to take.  This turned out to be quite serendipitous, as this route also took us past the waterfall and hotel that were also featured on the show!

[Snoqualmie Falls]

That was definitely worth the half hour it took us to park, get out of the car, look at the falls, and browse the gift shop.  It was strangely thrilling.  My guess is that it was the combination of us having car-cabin-fever, the unexpectedness of stumbling across it, and of course the nerd factor.

[My hair decided that it was also very excited.]

Then we kept driving (I'm sensing a theme...) and finally found the cafe!  Twede's, as it is now known.  Now, unlike the Ovaltine Cafe (from the last post), Twede's looks almost nothing like it did in the show on the inside.  This is because the interior was destroyed in a fire (arson, for pity's sake) in 2000.  The sign survived, however, and they rebuilt. 

The other difference between the Ovaltine Cafe and Twede's is that the people in charge of Twede's know the score!  They sell mugs, t-shirts, magnets, frisbees, and even hand-drawn maps of Twin Peaks filming locations.  They've got a "Twin Peaks" burger on the menu, and they always have plenty of coffee and cherry pie.  So that made it pretty fun.  (Also, the food was really good!)

 

All along the back wall by the restrooms, they have a bunch of newspaper clippings about filming and the fire, and quite a few shots from the show.

[Oh, Audrey Horne.]

[Best in the tri-counties.]

I would have insisted that we go find the sheriff station from the show, but it was getting late, and we still had to drive to Portland!

[And there was the part where I convinced Norman to talk to Diane on the voice recorder while I took videos. Oh yes he did.]

Vacation 2012: X-Files

This will be a non-chronological account of the highlights of our recent Northwestern road trip.
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And by "X-Files", I mean X-Files filming locations in Vancouver, British Columbia.  This was the whole point of our trip, actually. Well, not the X-Files part, but the Vancouver part, certainly.  I visited about 11 years ago to see a college I wanted to attend (didn't work out; God is good), and I've been wanting to get back ever since. Well since we live about 12 hours away by car, uh, yeah, we had to go before we move back to the middle of the country.

We did a bunch in our three days, four nights, but as the title suggests, I'm just going to focus on the X-File-y stuff. Because this is my blog and I do what I want.

Now, even though I was completely geeking out, there were still some limits to the nerdiness. 1.) Three-year-old in tow, which meant we tried not to plan too many things for one day, and we needed to be home in time for dinner. 2.) Husband in tow, which meant that attractions had to be independently interesting, aside from the fact that the X-Files was filmed there.

The first day we focused on Stanley Park and the Vancouver Aquarium.

Independently cool factors: Dolphins, penguins, narwhal statue, hummus and veggies lunch plate, and kids' play area.

 

X-Files cool factor: Scene from first season episode "E.B.E." with Deep Throat and Mulder was filmed in front of the shark tank.

[That's David Duchovny, I promise.]

Day Two, Grouse Mountain.

Independently cool factors: a beautiful view of beautiful scenery, fun skyride, birds of prey exhibit, grizzly bear habitat, family-friendly yet innuendo-filled lumberjack show, and POUTINE!
(You may also recognize it as NBC's broadcast "studio" for the 2010 Winter Olympics.)

 

 

[Canada food]

X-Files cool factor: Season two episode "Ascension" filmed on the skyride gondolas.

On Day Three, we took a walking (and walking, and walking, and huffing, and puffing) tour around downtown to see a couple different sights, including...

Robson Square

 

X-Files cool factor: More than one episode was filmed here, but the Lone Gunmen ice skated on the ice rink!

[Promo photo, not a screen capture. Unfortunately.]

Vancouver Art Gallery

 

X-Files cool factor: Used as the exterior for a university library in the episode "Synchrony" (which is a pretty decent stand-alone hour of sci-fi television).

Ovaltine Cafe

Independently cool factors: Really old, really crappy, really cheap cruddy old diner smack dab in the emphatically worst part of Vancouver (and probably the whole of British Columbia).

 

X-Files cool factor: Several scenes from "Jose Chung's From Outer Space" were filmed here.  "Jose Chung's From Outer Space" is hysterical.  It's really, really funny.  That may or may not hold true if you've never watched an episode of the X-Files.

Other fandoms cool factor: Episodes of Fringe and Da Vinci's Inquest, and scenes from the movies I, Robot and The Butterfly Effect.

Actually, the Ovaltine Cafe was one of the places I managed to talk my parents into hitting up when we went for that college visit.

[17-year-old me]

The place hasn't changed in at least the last 16 years (since the X-Files was filmed there).  Pretty sure it's looked exactly the same, and perhaps has been using the same plates since it opened in... whenever long time ago.

[27-year-old me and progeny]

And yes, we ate there. Ick.

[Supernaturally fluffy pancakes. There has to be a scientific explanation for this.]

And the whole thing was fun and special, and the realization of a long-time dream, one I thought I had laid to rest when I watched the 2010 Winter Olympics from my couch instead of in real life like 18-year-old me had been planning.

Vacation 2012: Portland

This will be a non-chronological account of the highlights of our recent Northwestern road trip.
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Portland!  As some sort of hipster, Norman certainly needed to visit.  It was lovely, though we didn't spend much time there.  We visited two main attractions: IKEA and SCRAP.  Yes, both of these places are spelled with all caps.  That's because they are both so exciting.

We decided to visit the IKEA because 1.) I'd never been to an IKEA and by all accounts it's a wonderland of fabulousness, and 2.) The Portland IKEA has a fabric-by-the-yard section, which is apparently uncommon.

 [It was even cloudy!]

It pretty much fulfilled all of my wildest expectations.  Beautiful showroom (including at least three displays of full apartments under 900 sq. ft.) (I have a slight obsession with tiny spaces, even though I could never live in one), cheap products that offer clever solutions to household organization problems, and cheap, interesting food.  On Facebook I called it an amusement park for grownups, which I guess isn't quite right because grownups like actual amusement parks.  Maybe it's an amusement park for the Pinterest set.  Which I am kind of a part of even though I don't have a Pinterest account.

[Spinach and cheese crepes (meh), fried chicken BBQ wrap (yum), IKEA chocolate bars (yes, please!)]

I bought a set of dish cloths, a set of washcloths with little loops on the corners for hanging, two down/feather pillows, and two sets of these shelves/drawers for my craft room.  Unfortunately they have to stay in their packages until after we move.  Sad.

Then we headed on over to SCRAP.  Lucy fell asleep, which meant I got to go in by myself!  It was like a vacation from my vacation!

SCRAP is a magical place.  It looks like this.  They sell recycled craft supplies.  Some of which are actual craft supplies, and some of which are just other recycled things.

I bought a ton of stuff (including a stack of interesting paper for making journals, a bunch of film reels, and about 50 very large manila envelopes for $2), and spent less than $14.

(There are other places like this SCRAP around the country and the world.  Check out this directory.)

[Aaaand that's an industrial laundry hamper FULL of zippers. 25 cents a piece!]

So even though we didn't spend much time in Portland, and we didn't really hit any tourist spots, it was a ton of fun!

Busy Bags: Miscellany

This summer to coincide with our (definitely one, possibly two) epic road trip(s), I am making busy bags for Lucy.  See the others by clicking here.
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The following are not proper busy bags, and they didn't take that much effort to make (or I didn't actually make them at all), so I thought I'd lump them all into one post.  The Post of Other Stuff to Keep Lucy Busy in a Car.

1.) Marble maze.  I found this idea through Pinterest along with the others.  Here is a link.

There's a marble in there.  The object is to moosh it around the seam lines from one side to the other.  Kinda fun.  Actually it sounds really fun for a really tired person.

Amazingly enough, I did not have a marble in my stash.  I am still slightly flabbergasted by this fact.  Nor could I find any whilst out at thrift stores and garage sales.  I couldn't even find a game of Chinese checkers with real marbles.  Nor did I have any large, round beads!  It was crazy.  So the thing that's in there is actually a round plastic pearl button with the loop broken off.  It works, but it would be better with something weightier, I think.  (On the plus side, if I ever find a marble, it will be easy enough to rip out part of the seam and replace it.)

2.) Notebook, markers, and stickers.

Lucy is, of course, enamored with little spiral-bound notebooks that flip open (like the ones on Blue's Clues).  She's gone through two from Target, and she picked out a new one at the Dollar Tree for our trips.  (The new one has Mr. Potato Head on it. ::shrug::) So I'll put that, some new markers, and a bunch of stickers in another pencil pouch.

The stickers are from my own stash.  I used to collect stickers in high school (but not in one of those little books -- on their sheets).  I'm soooooooooo glad I saved them all.  They're like magic.  Anytime I need to pacify Lucy, I just pull out another sheet of stickers.  And I have hundreds of sheets.  I always bring a new sheet when we eat out at a restaurant.  For the trips, I'm thinking I probably shouldn't put all the sheets in the pencil pouch at once, given her penchant for pulling all the stickers off the sheet and sticking them in a pile on one piece of paper.  She enjoys this, but it means she goes through stickers really fast.  I think I'll hold back a stash for emergencies.

3.) Digital voice recorder.  (Kinda like this.)

I found this in a free pile in our neighborhood the other day.  It's just a little, beat-up voice recorder.  All it needed was 2 AAA batteries, and it works great!  I was so glad to find it, as I was reminiscing recently about my tape recorder I had when I was little.  Hours of fun!  Lucy already knows how to operate it, and she thinks it's hysterical.  So that's definitely going in the car!

4.) Glow sticks.

I brought these the last time we moved, but I was a little unorganized on the Lucy entertainment front, so they didn't really get used.  But if we're out at night, I think these will be fun.

5.) Finger puppets, Jasmine, and Mulan. (Except that it's the Mulan dressed up like Ping, which apparently is pretty rare, and here we are dragging her around the house running her into things. Yep.)

I made her those finger puppets for Easter, and she plays with them some.  But what she really loves are her Jasmine and Mulan action figures that we found in a box of clothes and toys from Freecycle.  Oh my goodness -- she just runs around with them all day having them talk to each other.  So I think I'll stick the finger puppets and the gals in another pencil pouch.

(In other news, based on the search for a photo of the Jasmine figure, it appears that all the figures of Jasmine manufactured after 1992 were not "action figures" so much as they were "stand around and look sassy figures".  Fitting, I suppose.)

6.) Colorforms (essentially).

I found these on Amazon while looking for paper dolls.  Everyone loves Melissa & Doug, right?  Well, they sell these pads of backgrounds and "stickers", which are really just window clings/Colorforms.  There's a set with stuff around the house, and a set with animals and habitats.  Honestly, I bought both because I couldn't get over how fabulous it will be when Lucy decides there should be dinosaurs in the bathtub, or a grandfather clock in the jungle, etc, etc. 

In a moment of brilliant insight, I decided to remove the white from around all the clings before handing them to Lucy in the car.  I had a sudden vision of Lucy whining and screaming from the back seat because she couldn't peel the clings off, and decided to nip that in the bud.

7.) Pipe cleaners.

I just stuffed a bunch of different colored pipe cleaners into -- you guessed it -- a pencil pouch. Who knows what she'll come up with to do with them!

8.) Bubble wands.

These are for the rest stops.  It's a good way to get up and move around at a stop without the hazards of losing a ball or frisbee in traffic.

9.) Travel tray.

And to top it all off, we bought her one of these.  It's soft, so it won't be a crash hazard, it's got little walls to keep the stuff on it, and it has side pockets!  Lucy is so tall and our back seat is situated such that she can put her feet on the seat that her car seat is on, and when she does her knees are up a little bit higher than her lap, so this should work perfectly!  The only complaints from reviewers seemed to be that because the tray is soft, kids can't draw on it.  But that's what the cookie sheet is for!

So there you have it.  Geez, now I feel like I have too much time on my hands or something.

There's one more project coming, but it's not really a proper busy bag. More like an emergency purse toy....


BONUS TIP!
I realized I should add this one, as it's summer movie season.  We realized (quite by accident) that when we take Lucy to the movies, we should bring a sheet of bubble wrap.  It keeps her quiet and occupied, and it can be a nice stress relief if the movie gets a little intense.  And the movies are always so loud that no one notices the popping noise.  I'd bring some on the road trips, but I think we've got plenty going on...

The Epic Move, Part 6: San Francisco to Home!

 Last day!  (Or, I suppose, the first day, depending on your point of view... So deep.)  It's only 5-6 hours from the San Francisco area to Arcata, which is why we felt completely comfortable taking some time out of our day to drive through a tree.

No really.  The trees are so big and so old that you can carve a hole the size of a car out of the middle of one, and it will still be alive

 [But it'll cost ya.]

We saw a lot of motorcyclists on the 101.  I don't understand.  It looks like a really uncomfortable way to travel.

 We rolled down the windows and touch the tree as we drove through.

  [Our turn!]

Then this, because it was World Breastfeeding Week. 

[So giant!]

Then this guy looked like he was going to hitch a ride.  But then he left.

[Norman loves dragonflies.]

Then we kept driving.  We finally arrive in our new town.

[The University]

We got into our new house (with a carfull of stuff).

Lucy made her own fun.

[That's a bowl, a fork, and some spaghetti. Can't you tell?]

A couple days later I finally had some pans unpacked and had taken a trip to the grocery store, so we had our first home-cooked meal (despite tablelessness).

[Real spaghetti!]

And now we're here.

The Epic Move, Part 5: Bakersfield to San Francisco

Goodness!  I hope none of you were holding your breath to find out how the move ended up!  I'm back a mere 3 weeks later to let you know about my favorite day of the trip.  The day we wound up in San Francisco.  I didn't realize until the day of that I was so excited to see it. 

Back story: The Christmas break of my senior year of college I started (and finished) all 58 episodes of the TV show The Monkees.  I don't know what possessed me, but once I started I couldn't stop.  Being, as it is, set in the mid-1960s and staring a group of 4 young men with no adult interference, it showcases quite a bit of the 1960s hippie counterculture (especially as the show progresses).  I was fascinated.  And then when school started back up, I had to pick a topic for my senior thesis for my linguistics degree.  After tossing around several ideas, I landed on the topic of 1960s American slang.  It was way too much fun to write, research included watching the Woodstock documentary, and I got an A.  Win!  (Final title: "Rappin' to the Fuzz: A Look at the Slang of 1960s Counterculture". Thanks, Arlo!)

But along the way -- reading, thinking, watching more Monkees -- all the changing I had been doing while I was in college seemed to come to a head.  Hippies, according to High School Me, were just a bunch of lazy, drugged-up, over-sexed reprobates who needed to grow up and get right with God.  A different picture emerged when I actually looked into it.  It starts back in the 1940s and 50s, and good heavens, if I had lived through the 50s and early 60s, I'd be fed up too.  These poor kids -- they knew something had to change, and in some sense, it didn't matter what it was.  They just couldn't keep doing things the way their parents were doing them.  (And now, as I've made it through two seasons of Mad Men, I'm appreciative of their efforts all over again!)  I feel for them.  They're not really my people, but I get it. 

Which brings us to San Francisco.  The Summer of Love.  Haight-Ashbury.  A pilgrimage 9 years in the making for me.  Overly dramatic?  Yes.  And exciting.  I also knew that the vibe in San Francisco should be similar to that thing I loved about Boulder, CO, and the thing I've come to love about our new town in Humboldt County.  "Everyone's different, man. Do your thing."  After a lifetime in Oklahoma, I need some of that.  (Especially since, as it turns out, my thing is not everyone else's thing.)

First up, we visited the most amazing playground -- the Koret Children's Quarter in Golden Gate Park.  I don't think I've ever seen children so free.  The only rule is that adults aren't allowed without a kid.  There's a giant spider-webby thing and a little pond and sand and a giant cement slide built into the side of a hill that you have to go down on a piece of cardboard.  It's beautiful.

Then we walked down Haight Street and saw this:

 

Crochet bomb!

Then we found what we came for:

 

Then we bought over-priced but super-tasty salads at Whole Foods:

 

Then we started driving to find the Golden Gate Bridge.

  

[My new favorite photo of me.]

  

[And the fog behaved perfectly for us and everything.]

I loved it.  We're going back in a couple weeks to see Hugh Laurie sing some blues songs (!!!! -- oh there will be a post. Holy crap I'm so excited.), and we hope to go back again for a proper vacation before the next 10 months are gone.